Travel Cross-stitch Kit

July 25, 2015

Our last holiday was a trip to Bali. I didn’t want to take a crochet or knitting project with me – playing with yarn in a tropical setting didn’t appeal to me. Why not learn a new craft while on holiday?

I’m not good at crafting without a purpose. I devised a plan for what I wanted to use the cross-stitch for (but I’ll reveal that here when I’ve finished), and searched for the perfect patterns. The Mini Solar System pdf pattern by Clouds Factory was perfect for something for my son.

After a trip to the local craft store, gathering my supplies (so many colours of floss), I wondered how I was going to travel with them. My previous experience with embroidery floss was a big tangled mess, and I had lots of skeins to manage. Time to start with some order in mind. This small, divided craft box was perfect as a travel cross-stitch kit:

Since I was planning to cross-stitch on the plane, I pre-cut my floss, and wound it onto cardboard bobbins. The threads were sorted in number order in two sections on the left. I used another slot for spare bobbins (good to keep all my cross-stitch supplies together!).

The next section across the top was for the floss I was currently working with. I managed to tangle and destroy a couple of skeins, so they got wound onto cardboard bobbins too (in the fourth section across the top). The last slot, I kept my needles and a thimble (which I didn’t use!), and it ended up as a spot for my scrappy end bits.

I put the extra floss skeins in a zip-lock bag (hmmm, probably not really necessary), and removed the dividers in the lower section. They fit perfectly across the four combined sections. That slot also held a pen and my scissors (or nail clippers for the plane).

I ended up sticking my needle to the lid of the container with blu-tak, because it was a pain to get out of the container for my clunky fingers.

One bonus was the lid made a good holder for the pattern. The folded pattern fitted nicely inside the lid of the container too (see the first photo).

The travel cross-stitch kit fits easily in my handbag and was great on the plane and poolsid. It’s just as useful around the house. I can quickly grab it when I want to stitch in front of the TV, or when hanging out with the kids.

Come back soon to see how I used my stitching. What does your travel cross-stitch kit look like?

Comments

Love that Cloud Factory etsy shop! I’m always looking for fun crossstitch. Not old looking projects! And, like you, I am loving taking cross stitch projects on the go! You are much more organized than I am though!